Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Increases Holdings in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB - Free Report) by 40.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 220,685 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 63,500 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Schlumberger were worth $8,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Schlumberger by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,985,360 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,146,195,000 after buying an additional 1,377,134 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Schlumberger by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,836,555 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,067,254,000 after acquiring an additional 343,261 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $735,398,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,529,159 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $597,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,186 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,396,967 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $590,320,000 after buying an additional 1,700,203 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SLB. Griffin Securities cut Schlumberger from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.68.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of Schlumberger stock traded up $0.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.40. 9,532,641 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,931,758. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $31.11 and a 1 year high of $54.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.70, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.11.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. This is an increase from Schlumberger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Schlumberger news, insider Aparna Raman sold 25,133 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total value of $1,062,623.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,311,990.68. This trade represents a 44.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.44, for a total value of $2,486,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 210,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,202.88. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 315,905 shares of company stock worth $13,609,283. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

About Schlumberger

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.